Newspapers all around the state — including The Cincinnati Enquirer, which labelled its article an “Enquirer Exclusive” (both The Toledo Blade and Columbus Dispatch ran a story with the same angle as The Enquirer)
— are really excited about a new poll that found Sen. Sherrod Brown
leads Josh Mandel in the U.S. senatorial race for Ohio’s seat by 7
percent. But the poll only confirms what aggregate polling has been
saying for a while now.

Mayor Mark Mallory fired back at Commissioner Greg
Hartmann Friday. In a letter Tuesday, Hartmann accused Mallory of
failing to stick to his promises in support of a city-council committee that
would have established greater collaboration between Cincinnati and Hamilton
County governments. But in his letter, Mallory said the committee was
unnecessary and Hartmann was just playing politics by sending a letter
to media instead of calling the mayor on his cell phone.

Contrary to the claims of Mitt Romney’s campaign,
President Barack Obama does care about the work requirements in
welfare-to-work reform. In fact, Obama is disapproving of Ohio’s
program, which his administration says has not enforced work
requirements stringently enough. However, most of the blame is going to
former Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, not Gov. John Kasich, a
Republican.

Local homeless groups managed to get a hold of a $600,000
grant to aid homeless military veterans. The grant will provide
financial assistance and job training for the currently homeless and
vets at risk of becoming homeless.

City Council will host a special session today to get
public feedback and work on the new deal meant to prevent further
streetcar delays. The meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. at City Council
Chambers, City Hall room 300, 801 Plum St.

Citizens for Common Sense was formed to support Issue 4 on the November ballot, which changes City Council terms
from two to four years. The initiative would let political candidates
worry more about policy and less about campaigning, but some critics say
it would make it more difficult to hold council members accountable.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will be stopping by Greater
Cincinnati next Tuesday. The campaign stop is part of a three-day bus
tour across Ohio. The state is considered a must-win for Romney’s
presidential campaign, but aggregate polling is not friendly to his
prospects in Ohio.

Ohio’s unemployment rate remained at 7.2 percent, the same
as July and June. The state made gains in leisure and hospitality,
professional and business services, financial activities and government,
but it had losses in trade, transportation, utilities and educational
and health services. Still, Ohio’s unemployment rate remains far below
the national unemployment rate of 8.1 percent.

City Council is taking action to prevent further delays for the
streetcar, but the city says the delay to 2015 is still set. By moving
money around, the city will be able to front money to pay for moving
utility lines and pipes, but it expects to get the money back
eventually. The city says Duke Energy is responsible for moving the
lines to accommodate for the streetcar, but Duke says it’s the city’s
duty since the streetcar is the city’s project. If the city is right, it
gets the fronted money back. If it’s wrong, the money is on the
taxpayer dime.

The Cincinnati Park Board struck down Park Rule 28, a rule
that had come under fire by homeless advocates. The rule allowed the
city to put up signs that would immediately enact rules as law. Homeless
advocates said the signs allowed Washington Park to make rules that
discriminated against the homeless and poor. The dispute led to a
lawsuit, which three Over-the-Rhine residents filed on Sept. 4. The city
countered by saying they took down the signs weeks before the lawsuit
and that the rules were never truly enforced on any individual

Procter & Gamble and a local manufacturing contractor
are getting sued for religious discrimination. The dispute began when
P&G and its contractor allegedly fired a Muslim employee after she
was humiliated by another employee.

Bioscience looks to be a rising star in Ohio’s job market, according to a new study.